Government Sues Grower Accused of Slavery: The Labor Department filed a lawsuit Wednesday against a Ventura County flower grower indicted on slavery charges, alleging that he owes at least $1 million in unpaid wages to about 400 illegal aliens. The U.S. District Court suit was filed against Griffith-Ives Co., an ornamental flower business, and its owner, Edwin M. Ives of Los Angeles.

A Ventura County flower rancher, originally charged with enslaving hundreds of farm laborers, pleaded guilty Friday in federal court to illegally smuggling hundreds of Mexican field workers into the United States and to violating federal labor laws. The rancher, Edwin Mitchel Ives, also agreed to pay $1.5 million in restitution to laborers who worked at his 50-acre ranch in the Ventura County community of Somis in the 1980s.

A Ventura County flower rancher, originally charged with enslaving hundreds of farm laborers, pleaded guilty Friday in federal court to illegally smuggling hundreds of Mexican field workers into the United States and to violating federal labor laws. The rancher, Edwin Mitchel Ives, also agreed to pay $1.5 million in restitution to laborers who worked at his 50-acre ranch in the Ventura County community of Somis in the 1980s.

As a Fairfax High School student in the 1950s, Eddie Isaac impressed classmates as a hustler by hawking flowers from street corners after school. The son of a neighborhood shopkeeper, Isaac later worked the downtown Los Angeles flower markets, operated a florist shop in West Hollywood and eventually bought a small ranch near San Fernando. But riches eluded him until 1979 when Isaac--who by then had changed his name to Edwin M. Ives--borrowed heavily to buy two Ventura County flower ranches.

As a Fairfax High School student in the 1950s, Eddie Isaac impressed classmates as a hustler by hawking flowers from street corners after school. The son of a neighborhood shopkeeper, Isaac later worked the downtown Los Angeles flower markets, operated a florist shop in West Hollywood and eventually bought a small ranch near San Fernando. But riches eluded him until 1979 when Isaac--who by then had changed his name to Edwin M. Ives--borrowed heavily to buy two Ventura County flower ranches.

A Ventura County flower rancher charged with enslaving hundreds of Mexican laborers has agreed to plead guilty to corporate racketeering and to pay about $1.5 million in back wages to former workers, the stiffest fine ever levied in a U.S. immigration case, prosecutors said Monday. In exchange for Edwin M. Ives' plea, the U.S. attorney's office agreed to dismiss extortion and slavery counts that brought the case international attention as the largest such prosecution in U.S.

The owner of a Ventura County flower ranch, where Mexican laborers claim they were imprisoned behind barbed-wire fences and forced to work for sub-minimum wages, was criminally charged Friday with violating the workers' civil rights. Edwin M. Ives, 53, surrendered to federal authorities after early-morning raids Friday by about 50 agents at his two ranches in Ventura County and his Griffith-Ives Co. headquarters in West Los Angeles, investigators said.

State and federal agencies are investigating reports that Mexican laborers were imprisoned behind walls at a Ventura County flower ranch and forced to work for sub-minimum wages. Workers at the Griffith-Ives Co. ranch in Somis received about $1 an hour while routinely toiling 16 hours a day and were required to buy food and supplies from a company store at inflated prices, they said in interviews with The Times.

A federal grand jury in Los Angeles on Thursday reinstated racketeering charges against a Ventura County flower grower who is accused of enslaving at least 60 Mexican laborers at his Somis ranch in the 1980s. The new indictment alleges that Edwin M. Ives, 54, his wife, Dolly, 48, and nine employees of the Griffith-Ives Co. unlawfully invested racketeering income and illegally transferred money across state lines.

A civil lawsuit against the owner of a Somis flower ranch charged with enslaving workers has been delayed by a federal judge who ruled that the suit could interfere with the government's criminal prosecution of the rancher. In his ruling in Los Angeles, U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. agreed with prosecutors who argued that allowing the civil lawsuit to proceed would give defense attorneys access to witnesses that could hurt the criminal case against Edwin M. Ives, 53, of Los Angeles.

A Ventura County flower rancher charged with enslaving hundreds of Mexican laborers has agreed to plead guilty to corporate racketeering and to pay about $1.5 million in back wages to former workers, the stiffest fine ever levied in a U.S. immigration case, prosecutors said Monday. In exchange for Edwin M. Ives' plea, the U.S. attorney's office agreed to dismiss extortion and slavery counts that brought the case international attention as the largest such prosecution in U.S.

Government Sues Grower Accused of Slavery: The Labor Department filed a lawsuit Wednesday against a Ventura County flower grower indicted on slavery charges, alleging that he owes at least $1 million in unpaid wages to about 400 illegal aliens. The U.S. District Court suit was filed against Griffith-Ives Co., an ornamental flower business, and its owner, Edwin M. Ives of Los Angeles.

The owner of a Ventura County flower ranch, where Mexican laborers claim they were imprisoned behind barbed-wire fences and forced to work for sub-minimum wages, was criminally charged Friday with violating the workers' civil rights. Edwin M. Ives, 53, surrendered to federal authorities after early-morning raids Friday by about 50 agents at his two ranches in Ventura County and his Griffith-Ives Co. headquarters in West Los Angeles, investigators said.

State and federal agencies are investigating reports that Mexican laborers were imprisoned behind walls at a Ventura County flower ranch and forced to work for sub-minimum wages. Workers at the Griffith-Ives Co. ranch in Somis received about $1 an hour while routinely toiling 16 hours a day and were required to buy food and supplies from a company store at inflated prices, they said in interviews with The Times.

The Ventura County district attorney's office and lawyers representing 27 Mexican laborers who say they worked as virtual slaves at a Somis flower ranch filed lawsuits Tuesday that seek millions of dollars in damages from the Griffith-Ives Co. and its owners. California Rural Legal Assistance lawyers filed a federal lawsuit in Los Angeles against ranch owners Edwin M.

The U.S. Department of Labor filed suit Wednesday seeking the back wages of an estimated 400 Mexican laborers who were allegedly held against their will and forced to toil for long hours by a Somis flower rancher. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, names the Griffith-Ives Co. of Somis and Edwin M. Ives, owner of the 50-acre ornament flower and greenery ranch.